Alejandro Jodorowsky is a force of nature. At 90 years old he is still making films and is a cultural phenomenon who has influenced other artists as disparate as John Waters and Yoko Ono. Although his body of work has long been considered disjointed and random, William Egginton claims that Jodorowsky's writings, his comics, his theatre work and mime, his status as a guru and his remarkable failed attempt to make the film version of Dune, along with the therapeutic practice he calls psychomagic can all be tied together to form the philosophical programme that underpins his films.

Incorporating surrealism and thinkers including Lacan, Bataille and Bachelard into his interpretation of Jodorowsky's work, Egginton shows how his diverse films are connected by interpretive practices similar to Lacanian psychoanalysis. Using case studies of Jodorowsky's cult films, El Topo, Fando y Lis and Holy Mountain and more, this book provides a unique perspective on a filmmaker whose work has been notoriously difficult to analyse.